With many of the UK’s big park attractions found in the south of England, Alton Towers is more-easily accessible to the rest of the island’s thrill-seekers. Perhaps that’s why it’s the UK’s most visited theme park.

It has a fair reputation for white-knuckle rides with some of the world’s best rollercoasters including Air, Nemesis and Oblivion. However, there is loads to do for kids of all ages, and with recent additions like CBeebies Land younger children will not miss out.

The huge resort has grown its accommodation options recently with the opening of the Enchanted Village with its lodges and treehouses.

Highlights

Thrill rides including Rita, Nemesis, TH13TEEN, Oblivion

Runaway Mine Train

Ice Age 4D Experience

Twirling Toadstool

Mr. Bloom’s Allotment

In The Night Garden Magical Boat Ride

Postman Pat Parcel Post

Tree Fu Tom Training Camp

Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure

CBeebies Land

Waterpark

Enchanted Forest Tree Top Quest

Extraordinary Golf

Alton Towers Spa

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Where is it?

Alton Towers Resort is between the M1 and the M6, about 15 miles east of Stoke-on-Trent. It costs an additional £6 to park – or £16 if you choose ‘express parking’ outside the park gates. There is no train station nearby, so visitors arriving by public transport come by bus either from Stoke or Uttoxeter, though services are limited.

Best age for kids?

Of 40 different rides available at Alton Towers, seven require the rider to be at least 1.4 metres high and a further six require them to be over 1 metre. The park attracts a lot of families with over 8s but there is still plenty that under 8s will enjoy – though perhaps not as much as at Legoland.

Don’t miss

Top ride The Smiler reopens in June 2016 after a crash that has now been confirmed was due to human error. In the meantime, Air is the standout attraction – it’s described as the closest thing to flying, with riders gliding through the skies in a ‘Superman’ position.

What’s new?

CBeebies Land is barely a year old and it’s latest addition is a junior Octonauts rollercoaster. Visit after 13 May and you’ll be able to check out its newly-launched theme restaurant where food is delivered by mini rollercoaster.

Need to know!

Alton Towers often runs special events during school or seasonal holidays like Halloween and Christmas. Check their events page to see what’s coming up. Note that the theme park is closed from November to mid-March each year.

Prices

A one-day park entry ticket bought at least seven days in advance costs £32.85 per person, if for a family of four or more. Tickets for the water park – which is a separate entity – can be bought for £12 each online.

2 For 1 Tickets

Alton Towers has an ongoing promotion offering a second day entry to the park for the price of one ticket – but the deal is only for those booking a hotel stay. Alton Towers says: “2nd Day FREE is a Theme Park entry day and must be taken on consecutive stay dates with a hotel stay in the middle. 2nd Day FREE does not apply to themed weekends held at the Alton Towers Resort Hotels. ” Book a 2 for 1 stay.

There are also occassional 2 for 1 ticket only offers – check our vouchers above.

Accommodation options

Alton Towers has several on-site accommodation options. We checked prices for a one night midweek stay in March for a family of four.At the top end are its exclusive new Enchanted Village treehouses. These quirky self-catering luxury apartments come with free WiFi, a private hot tub and a 30″ plasma TV in every bedroom. One night with theme park tickets included cost a whopping £1078.00.Less pricey are the Enchanted Village woodland lodges which come with full English breakfast at the Crooked Spoon restaurant and cost £293.75 with park tickets included.A third option is the longer-established resort hotel and its Explorer rooms. They all have a 26″ flat screen LCD TV, tea and coffee making facilities and an en-suite bathroom with bath and shower. When we checked prices started at £290.51. There is also Caribbean themed Splash Landings hotel on site which has rooms from £270.51.

Off site, using Alton Towers’ own short breaks booking site, we found a night at Holiday Inn Stoke on Trent (15 miles from the park) for £216 for a family of four. There were some slightly cheaper options in further-away locations like Nottingham. Check out Play And Stay for similar deals but with bonus days at the park offered.

You could save a few pounds using Superbreak’s search engine to find a package. We found a double room at Holiday Inn East Midlands Airport (26 miles away) for £173.66 with park tickets.

Ellie from the West Midlands says:

The park is quite spread out so wear comfortable shoes as you’ll be doing a lot of walking. That said, we also used the SkyRide cable car to travel between different areas and save our legs! Ask for a wristband that you can attach to your kids with your name and mobile number on, just in case they wander off in the crowds. It’s also wise to buy your car park ticket as soon as you arrive rather than waiting till the end of the day, because the queues then are often huge.

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What other families have said

“Had a fantastic day out with my 6 year old to start his summer holiday. i would have given it 5 stars, but some of the rides we wanted to go on we’re closed for upgrades. It was busy, which is good, but you need to be prepared to either queue or buy fast track passes.” Clare Greenhalgh

“Tips for visiting the park, from past experience.

Arrive early. It may seem too early to be there for 8:30 – 9:00, but if you get there too late then the cars will start to pile up, there will be no car parking room, the queue for the monorail will be insanely long, and you won’t get in to park at least an hour after even arriving.

Order tickets online, at least a week before the actual day. This will ensure that you get them at the cheapest possible price (excluding vouchers) Also, you will get access to early ride time with online tickets, and won’t have to queue for as long to purchase tickets. It just makes things a whole lot easier.

Unless you are willing to pay, take a packed lunch. This will leave enough money for photos/souvenirs

Fast track may be expensive, but it really is worth it on a busy day. Queues can form of up to two hours during the summer holidays on the most popular attractions, and without fast track you may not even get to ride half of these in a day.

If you have access to ERT, head over to the spinball whizzer and ride it a few times, then make your way up to the smiler BEFORE it opens. You will be one of the first on, preventing you from having to wait an hour or more, or spending money on a fast track.

Start from the back of the park (forbidden valley) and make your way towards the front (either katanga canyon or X-Sector)

If you don’t mind getting split up from friends/ family on a ride, use the single rider queue. It will mean queuing for A LOT less time, even if it means sitting in a seperate seat. It will be worth it, as at least you actually get to ride the ride.” Lauren W

“Great for a family day out, our children are 3,12 & 14. They all like different types of rides and this has something for all of them and us rollercoaster junkie parents. Plenty of rides for all of us and set in such lovely grounds. We love coming here. Even better here on raining days as there is never a queue.” Chrissie S

Got tickets and need to find your own family friendly accommodation?

If you’re also looking for a hotel, right now we like trivago for the best deals. It’s the biggest hotel search site in the world and has good coverage of the UK (as well as hotels abroad). For a family friendly budget stay, don’t forget to check Premier Inn and Travelodge. As a general rule with hotels, book early for the cheapest price. If you’ve left it late, try LateRooms.

Need to buy train tickets?

Our top choice for UK train tickets is Virgin Trains – they search the whole rail network, not just Virgin routes. What’s more, they don’t add booking fees or charge you for using your credit card. Also worth a look is Trainline. They buy up seat allocations in bulk, meaning they can sometimes pass on better discounts than rivals.

Need to buy coach or bus tickets?

If you’re travelling by bus, these days National Express really makes an effort to be family friendly. With booster seats, wifi, air con and power sockets for tablets – as well as bargain prices when compared to train – they’re worth a look. With their £8 Family Coachcard kids go free.